The Lightning Bender | Book 1: Change

34: Father's Friends

After his little 'kerfuffle' in the dojo, Hiko decided he'd get some tea at a tea shop just beside the dojo. Their tea was definitely good, but they served it in room temperature which annoyed Hiko to a degree. After he had finished his cup of tea, he noticed people were now pouring out of the dojo. His eyes drifted to a familiar face, it was Katsumi walking along with a few friends. Suddenly, Katsumi looked to Hiko's direction and locked eyes with him. Hiko looked away hastily and pretended to still be drinking out of his now empty cup. Katsumi and her friends now began walking toward the tea shop, Hiko's heart beat faster with every step they took. Crap, Crap, Crap! Soon, Katsumi sat down in front of Hiko, her friends standing behind her, with their arms crossed. Hiko put his cup down and cleared his throat.

"What?" Hiko said in a calm voice.

"You're Hiko, right?" Katsumi pointed at Hiko.

Hiko put down Katsumi's finger. "Yes."

"Well, I'm here to tell you to never come back to the dojo again. That was my boyfriend you knocked out." Katsumi crossed her arms, her eyes furious.

"Yeah, sure."

"You watch your back, Hiko." Katsumi stood up and walked away with her goons leaving Hiko dumbfounded.

"Hey! How was your little walk?" Jianjun was sitting down on the couch tense.

"Good, I got some takoyaki, found out the dojo you'll be going to is named after dad, then went into said dojo and got into a fight there, and now I think I angered a gang of girls or rather the whole dojo." Hiko sat down beside Jianjun, whose mouth was agape.

"What?! No don't repeat it." Hiko closed his mouth before Jianjun started talking again. "You do know I'll be going there right? What if they knew we were related! Then they'd kick me out too!"

"Hey they didn't kick me out, I kicked myself out." Hiko raised his legs onto the coffee table.

"It's the same thing Hiko!"

Hiko sighed. "All you have to do is pull out the 'Yuan's my dad' card then they wouldn't dare kick you out."

"Why didn't you pull out that card then?" Jianjun crossed his arms.

"Because it's tacky." Hiko said with a shrug. "Their dojo was terrible anyway, the teacher there is terrible and they don't even do Lightningbending. They just flail their arms around until some random kid comes in and kicks their star pupil's butt."

"It doesn't matter, Junko already enrolled me." Jianjun slumped on the couch.

"I'm not letting you go to that school if they don't teach you proper fighting techniques."

"It's not like you'd willingly be a teacher in one of those dojos." Suddenly, a thought came to Hiko's mind.

"Maybe I can!" Hiko stood up and ran outside the door before Jianjun was able to reply.

Hiko ran toward the house they had entered when they first got here. When he had finally reached it, he knocked on the door and it opened, revealing Junko who smiled at Hiko.

"Ah, Hiko! Come in!" Junko ushered Hiko into the house, whwre he sat down on the couch hastily.

"What brings you here?" Junko sat down on the couch across Hiko.

"I came to tell you that 'Yuan's dojo' is terrible."

Junko, who sat with his legs crossed, now looked tense and somewhat shocked.

"What are you talking about?"

"I passed by it and one of your teachers put me up with his 'star-pupil'. Luckily, I defused the situation quickly."

"Defused?... You beat him?" Junko asked suspiciously.

"I had to, but what I noticed was his star-pupil was terrible. I think the teacher is incapable of actually teaching real techniques to his students."

"And what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to make me a teacher."

Junko who was already shocked by Hiko's concensus on the dojo, was even more shocked at the proposition.

"Hiko, you're too young."

"That's what Avatar Korra thought, but then I was able to succesfully teach her almost everything my Father taught me. I would love to teach people my age, my own father's techniques and not just 'how to punch or kick', I want to teach them how to Lightningbend." Hiko leaned forward anticipating his uncle's response to all this.

"Well, actually Hiko. We don't want to teach Lightningbending, in fact there aren't a lot of people who can, anymore." Hiko leaned back, his face scrunched up. "Only a select few can, and these are the people who go on critical, important missions. I can't teach these children how to Lightningbend because that will be a death sentence for them. They will be obligated to go on these dangerous missions that most of the time, end up killing one or two of my men."

"But, that's exactly why you have to teach them! They have to learn to defend themselves becuase once your generation is done, we'll be the ones to handle these missions."

"That's why we're ending the red lotus now..."

"What if you can't?" Hiko cut off Junko. "What if they all take you out and we're all left defenseless here. By not teaching Lightningbending, you're the one who's putting a death sentence on us."

Junko stared fiercely into Hiko's eyes, which was met with an identical stare.

"Come with me." Junko stood up and walked to the door, Hiko reluctantly stood up and followed his uncle, curious where they were going.

They walked down the street, Hiko trailing his uncle far back, not wanting to speak to him or even look at him. It was idiotic to not teach Lightningbending as it was what the clan was known for. His own father had spent most of his life teaching Lightningbending to others who eventually became the clan that he was now a part of. But now, Junko was threatening to stop his father's progress by not teaching children how to Lightningbend.

Finally, Junko stopped in front of the highest building Hiko had seen in the village. It had a giant bronze logo of the Raven Eagle, the clan's symbol, at it's front. Junko entered, followed closely by Hiko who had now caught up to his uncle, entranced by the interior of the building. Almost everything he saw inside the building was wood, but it made the lighting inside the lobby look homey.

"What is this place?" Hiko asked looking up at a beautiful, intricate chandelier above him.

"This is the Village hall. This is where our government works. Without this building, our economy and livelihood will come crashing down."

"What did you want me to see?" Junko urged Hiko to follow him without saying a word. They went through hallway after hallway when they had finally reached a bigger than normal door, decorated by yet another bronze logo of the Razen Eagle. Junko opened the door, letting Hiko in first. It was a cemetery, hundreds of gravestones laid out on the floor. The garden around it was beautiful and vibrant but it did not help the overall depressing vibe of the room. It just made it look like a mass funeral instead.

"What is this?"

"This is the Hero's memorial, the fallen of the missions against the Red Lotus"

Hiko gazed upon the hundreds of gravestones in front of him, it never occured to him this much people had died because of this 'war' with the red lotus.

"Most of these men were your Father's personal friends, they were glad to die for him." Junko exited the room without another word but Hiko stayed behind. I have to stop this.